Hi,
I'm back to trying to find a means of watching live TV with audio description here in the UK. This is likely to get a bit ranty, so be warned.
Free to air Digital TV, through the arial, does have audio description but is only available on TV sets which have rather clunky interfaces and, when it comes to services like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, very little consistency in screen reader compatibility. Also, if one wants to watch premium channels, offerings from Sky, you're plum out of luck using Now TV which doesn't have audio description on its live channels. Kinda accessible, limited channel choice, free.
There is Sky Stream now, which has a screen reader which is okay, and I know they are trying to improve it but are limited by the hardware. Again, there is variation in accessibility across the offered apps though you do get audio description but, compared with Now TV, £10 a month, it is £28 for a 18 month contract, which does give you basic Netflix with adds, but is only available on one TV unless you upgrade to whole home for another £12 a month, making all this very expensive just to get a handful of channels that sighted folks could get for £10 a month, cheaper during deals. Kina accessible, very expensive.
There is EE TV which, apparently, has audio description on all channels including now TV channels and free view channels, but this too is expensive and requires changing broadband provider into the bargain. This has the advantage of being available on Apple TV too, but you only get one apple TV box that has the full experience, standard apple boxes don't offer the live channels. So, accessible, though expensive and highly disruptive.
These, as I understand it, are really the only choices, none of which meet our needs. I'd be totally fine with paying for the sky package if it had a quality and complete screen reader interface, but it's janky and, as yet, there is no audio description on it's catchup content, though fingers crossed this changes fairly soon.
Its just such a fragmented world of streaming for us that we end up having to buy several devices and subscriptions just to access everything and, if we can't afford it, well, we're limited.
What are other's thoughts? Are there solutions I've missed?
Comments
Now TV update
Taken from their page about supporting people with disabilities:
Is Audio Description (AD) available on NOW?
We’re working on making AD available on selected shows and movies on the Cinema Membership and Entertainment Membership. You can watch with AD on selected live channels.
We're planning to increase the number of shows and movies with AD. We’ll let you know on this page when more details are available.
Me again! Think this is a fairly recent addition to the site, the 27th June. I did have a quick look at live channels but couldn't find anything audio described. The wording about the catch up content is, no doubt, intentionally ambiguous... 'We're working on...' which, I think, means it's coming at some point.
All in all though, it is a bit of an improvement, even if it's years later than it should have been.
Re: Now TV
Interesting but not very impressive that they have spent all this time and all we get is a weak promise of better things to come. Assuming HBO Max has AD when it launches in the UK and that the app is accessible then any vague interest in anything Sky has to offer will be gone. It does feel like Sky's day is done.
There are some sky originals…
There are some sky originals I'd like to watch, Mr Big, for example. There are also peacock originals like Day Of The Jackel which will remain on sky with no alternative for us.
I flip flop between being really annoyed and hopeful.
HBO Max will be great, such a huge back catalogue of amazing shows, and though the set is getting there, as in being able to get audio description on many platforms and for many shows, it still has gaps.
Sky Originals
The only thing I wanted to watch on Sky in recent memory that wasn't HBO was a Chris McCausland programme but I forget what it was now.
I think Sky got way too big for its boots so I would be happy to see that particular empire crumble. I was a subscriber for many, many years and they just bump the bill up and up and up and if you want a good deal you have to fight your way through the call centre and then threaten to cancel. I can't be doing with that. I used to love watching the football but it's not much good if you can't see anything.
I just find them an arrogant company who don't; seem to value their existing customers that much. Not that they are unique in that regard I suppose.
Anyway, having said all that and just to immediately contradict myself, if all Sky Originals content had AD on streaming I might be tempted to subscribe for a month or two but not long-term.
HBO Max can't come soon enough though - I'm really quite excited.
Using a fire TV stick is a big issue, especially for audio descr
Not much better on Apple TV…
Not much better on Apple TV. Considering the point is to make the experience better for those who are impaired in using technology, they actually make it very hard. There should be a hard switch for all apps that key into their API. I think Apple does have this baked in, as Amazon may have too, but it's down to the app developers to enable it. BBC iPlayer is pretty junky as it stands; we have to watch a specific version rather than being able to switch the audio track on the fly, which causes issues with resuming or watching several episodes back-to-back. There is also no way, aside from the iPlayer website, of getting audio description on live TV. Even Now TV has this... Details in next post.
Re: Fire TV
Although there is no unified way to turn on AD, you can do it for each service. At least, for BBC iPlayer you definitely can. Start watching something, then pause it. If you go up, then move right you should find an option. I can't remember what it is called but it mentions Subtitles at least. Press the enter/select button in the middle of the d-pad and move down. There should be an option to enable AD here if the show supports it. A little while ago they also made this sticky so it should remember the next time.
This was on my Fire Cube but I presume it is the same for the stick.
I don't know about itv though. If not similar to bbc, there might be a list of audio tracks (different languages or whatnot) before you start. At least I think that's how Netflix does it.
I'm not personally that keen on this sort of thing being on the remote. my Freesat remote control has an AD button but I have absolutely no chance of finding it as there are millions of buttons. I like the Fire remote's simplicity. But it would be nice if the system AD option persisted everywhere.
Now TV has audio description on live channels
Interesting that we can now watch the live Sky channels through Now TV with audio description. I'm not sure if it matches what you get via Sky itself, but I was nicely surprised.
As far as catch-up goes, still no joy finding anything that works. As I mentioned before, I think this may be slower in coming and a future update.
Though, I did notice, when updating apps, Sky Go's update notes mentioned people with access needs. I couldn't find what they'd actually changed, but I'd assume they'd work the same between platforms, Now TV and Sky Go... But it all seems it is a bit fragmented.
I have an Apple TV and I experienced the same issues
Sorry about the misspellings
It’s dictation playing up on my iPhone.
Re: BBC
To be fair to the BBC, pretty much everything they do has AD these days as far as I am aware, and it is all available on catch-up. There used to be a problem where the AD AD could take a little while to appear - so if you were watching a show on the date it was broadcast, the AD might not be available on iPlayer for a week. I'm not sure if this is still the case.
I think the quality of the AD isn't as good as some services. Sometimes it can be a bit too sparse. And it's not surround.
A little while ago they released every episode of Dr Who, right down to the old black and white versions. And apparently every episode had AD which was impressive. However, some other older shows wont have it.